Tenth year of operations for Furggsattel glacier lift

11/10/2013

Thanks to favourable snow conditions, the Furggsattel glacier lift will reopen on Monday, 14 October, in time for the Zermatt ski test. 2013 marks the tenth year of operations for Switzerland’s first glacier chairlift. High time it shared the limelight again.

Furggsattel

Glacier chairlift as flagship project

Starting from Trockener Steg (2915 metres above sea level), the Furggsattel glacier lift can carry up to 2400 snow sports enthusiasts per hour up to Furggsattel (3365 m). The six-seater chairlift covers the 2.5-kilometre stretch in 8 minutes 30 seconds.There is an adventurous story behind the building of the chairlift. Exhaustive glaciological studies and persuasive arguments were needed before plans could be laid to build Switzerland’s first ever chairlift on a glacier. Even after its opening in 2003, the lift presented Zermatt Bergbahnen with an annual challenge: 12 of the 18 masts actually stand on the glacier ice, and their positions have to be adjusted to compensate for the glacier’s movements by taking measurements with a theodolite.

Extended snow sports area thanks to glacier chairlift and Snowmaker

In addition to 21 kilometres of piste in the summer skiing area, the runs now opened up with the connection to Trockener Steg offer a further eight kilometres of snow sports pleasure. The extension of the skiing area to Trockener Steg is largely thanks to the IDE Snowmaker, the world’s first snow machine that operates independently of ambient temperature. It places a glistening white cover over a stretch of roughly 700 metres between Trockener Steg and the Theodul Glacier.